Biden so far
Kaieteur News – Even with COVID-19 and its worldwide disruptive presence still growing, despite the introduction of numerous vaccines, in one important aspect so far, the world seems to have emerged from over the last few months. Next week marks three months since Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States and the most notable thing about his Presidency to date is the absence of turmoil and rancor and absurdity and obscenity that marked full tenure, from start to finish, from that of his predecessor.
Even with Donald Trump’s inspired and provocative attack on the capital as a backdrop, Biden’s time in office is marked by impartial, competent, if relatively boring, rule. Today, it is not surprising that the salacious political scandal gripping Washington, DC, is not one that comes from the Biden camp, but one related to the Trump movement. Florida’s Congressman – and Trump’s most shamelessly shy since former Trump ‘fixer’ (now critic) Michael Gaetz – Matt Gaetz, has found himself embroiled in a Justice Department investigation, begun under Trump’s presidency, linking him to Trump accusations of statutory rape and human trafficking. Things have gotten so bad for Gaetz that not only are fellow Republicans re-donating to charitable funds he donated to their campaigns, but reportedly Trump himself will not meet with him personally.
In contrast, while Biden has not been garnering media attention with the same ‘mastery’ as his predecessor (CNN’s ratings fell by the 50 percent hours almost immediately after Trump left his post), the what he has received in the media for is exactly the kind of solid, almost pedestrian policy initiatives that he saw beating Trump comfortably in last year’s election.
Perhaps there is no greater contrast between Biden and Trump than the attitude toward fighting against COVID-19, which had taken 566,000 American lives yesterday, which equates to 72 percent of Guyana’s population. Trump spent much of his Presidency denying COVID-19 seriousness and fighting with well-respected public health officials like Dr. Anthony Faucci on the measures necessary to combat the pandemic, eventually catching the virus itself – only in the last days of his presidency. that it had tried to rush international pharmaceutical companies to provide a vaccine, more to boost its own failed political fate than boost public immunity to the new coronavirus. In contrast, Biden’s first two months in his Presidency saw a remarkable success in delivering a public vaccination program, as he was proud to represent in a speech to the country at the end of March:
“On December 8th, I stated that I was hoping to get 100 million shots in people’s arms in my first 100 days. We reached that goal last week by day 58 – 42 days earlier than expected. Now, today, I’m setting a second goal, which is: We will, by my 100th day in office, have put 200 million shots in people’s arms. That’s right: 200 million shots in 100 days. I know it’s ambitious, twice our original goal, but no other country in the world has even come close – not even close – to what we do. And I think we can do it. ”
Of course there is a long way to go toward correcting the damage and excesses of the Trump era, as well as fixing long-term but metastasizing issues like income inequality (exacerbated by COVID-19 economic unrest), overt structural and social racism, and unmitigated police violence against African Americans. That said, Biden seems to be engaged in a quiet reconstruction of the American dream, or what’s left of it. As we continue on our own quest to build our nation, building something better than the rubble our own politics have left us, we can sympathize with the plodding but steady progress being made of under Biden so far – one part construction dam only.